Review Summary

"Firewall," a thrill-challenged thriller directed by Richard Loncraine, manages to entertain mildly only be cause it traffics in all the familiar action-movie clichés, giving moviegoers ample opportunity to test their action-movie I.Q. Rather surprisingly, the film is also something of a bummer for what it says about aging in Hollywood. Harrison Ford again plays a family man named Jack (see the "Patriot Games" franchise), though this time he's a computer security expert and resident alpha dog for a Seattle bank. Mr. Ford became a star by giving and taking punches, for being a rakishly handsome performer who transcended the limits of his acting with charm and intense physicality. Recently, though, he has faltered as he has tried his hand at villainy and, worse, comedy. Age or maybe the times have not been kind. It's not a little painful, then, to watch Mr. Ford in "Firewall," a rote retread of the kind of family-in-jeopardy flicks that helped define his career. — Manohla Dargis